Our Windows Mobile devices are great for taking movies on the go. Converting movies and
INTRODUCTION
DVD to a more pocketable format can be a bit of chore if you don’t have the right program. Spb Software has a brand-new solution, and we’re one of the first to take a thorough look at a tool that you may find very useful. The new program, Mobile DVD, promises to deliver a solution
to meet all of your needs. So is Spb Mobile DVD a
box office hit? Grab some popcorn and read on to
find out!
Spb breaks into mobile movie conversion
WHAT’S HOT
with its initial release of Mobile DVD. This PC
application offers numerous options and features to
obtain the best quality movie while promoting ease
of use. Here’s a list of some:
- Convert an
entire movie or a portion - Output format
in WMV or XVID - Select from 20
or 25 FPS (Frames Per Second) - Zoom mode: Fit
to screen and full screen options - Select from
QVGA, VGA or Square Screen output - Easy wizard
interface allows users to get started right away
The installer for Spb Mobile DVD is pretty straight
SETUP
forward. Read and accept the license
agreement then proceed!
After the install has completed you will then be
presented with the Activation dialog. For
activation, your PC will require an online internet
connection. If the internet is not available to you,
there is an activation by phone method.
Getting started with DVD Mobile is fast
PRODUCT FEATURES
and easy. You can step through the process of
converting a movie, using a wizard interface. This
takes allot of guess work out and even new comers
can convert a movie with ease.
Simple choices and organized dialogs help speed you
through the process. To start out, simply choose to
convert a DVD disk from your DVD-ROM drive, or
convert a video file from your hard drive. Mobile
DVD can import AVI (DivX/XVid), MPEG and WMV
formats. To convert a retail DVD movie you will need
a DVD Decoder such as
Cyberlink PowerDVD or InterVideo WinDVD.
For this review we are converting the Aviator from a
DVD disk. Wait for the DVD’s main menu,
select playback options such as language or
subtitles on/off and click next.
From the next screen we can either convert the
entire movie, a selected portion of the movie or a
single chapter. All of these options are available
in a drop down box. To convert a portion of the
movie, click the play button and use the "Mark
Begin" and "Mark End" buttons to set the start and
stop positions. For this review we opted to convert
the entire movie.
On the next screen we can set the following options:
Output format – WMV 20 Frames per second, WMV 25
Frames per second and XVid 25 Frames per second.
Screen resolution – QVGA 320×240, VGA 640×480,
Square screens 480×480 and 240×240. Aspect ratio -
4:3, 16:9 and 2.35:1 (depending on the movie, not
all aspect ratio options may be present).
The Zooming mode will offer you the following
choices: Small (fit to screen), Medium (Best fit)
and Big (Full screen). The Medium zoom mode is my
first choice since it allows to fill more of my
screen while not losing too much of the original
screen format. In the previous screenshots you can
see the difference between Zooming small and medium.
In this screen you can see the Zooming mode set to
Big (Full screen). You loose allot of the original
movie, but can achieve full screen video without
altering the aspect ratio.
Now we are ready to select the video quality and see
a real time preview of how the movie will appear.
This is a great feature since the preview will
update according to the quality setting you choose.
Your available options here are: video quality -
Poor, Normal, Best or Custom. If you choose custom,
you can either specify a fit to file size or
manually set the quality percentage. This is useful
if you want to fine tune the output to a specific
bitrate or file size.
Clicking next will display a dialog where you can
choose where to save your converted video. You can
save it to your hard drive, removable memory card
(if present) or right to your mobile device.
Conversion times will vary depending on your PC
hardware, video source and destination. We have seen
an average of 3.6x conversion speeds.
For an idea on the size of the output files, here’s a matrix for The Aviator, which has a run time of 170 minutes:
Format |
Size (MB)
|
| XVid, 25 FPS, 320×240, Best Quality | 529 |
| XVid, 25 FPS, 320×240, Normal Quality | 392 |
| XVid, 25 FPS, 320×240, Poor Quality | 254 |
| WMV, 25 FPS, 320×240, Best Quality | 522 |
| WMV, 25 FPS, 320×240, Normal Quality | 385 |
| WMV, 25 FPS, 320×240, Poor Quality | 247 |
| WMV, 20 FPS, 320×240, Best Quality | 479 |
| WMV, 20 FPS, 320×240, Normal Quality | 350 |
| WMV, 20 FPS, 320×240, Poor Quality | 218 |
Color used for emphasis on various formats available. Conversion speed average: 2.6x or 62 minutes.
System used: Dell Dimension 2400
2.66 GHz, 1 GB RAM, 256 MB Video Card, WinXP SP1
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Spb Mobile DVD makes converting full While
HELP SUPPORT
file that is installed on the PC. Should users
still have questions or issues, there is an
online FAQ. Users can also take advantage of the
online forum, or submit a
support request via email.
Spb provides enough support options that getting
assistance should be easy.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Mobile DVD
supports the following operating systems:
Windows 98/2000/XP
and
Vista.
At the time of this review, hardware requirements were not available. But
I think its safe to assume any PC with the following should be able to
run Mobile DVD: 500 MHz CPU, 256 MB RAM and a DVD-ROM drive with DVD
decoder (mentioned earlier in this review). The application itself only
requires 9.60 MB’s of space on your hard drive.
BUGS AND WISHES
Spb Mobile DVD operates smoothly without any
problems that I could uncover. There are a couple of
features I would like to see in a future
release.
Currently Mobile DVD can only work with single
files/disks. If you want to convert a movie that
spans to a two disk set, then you’ll need to convert
each disk and the result will be two separate files.
Mobile DVD could really benefit from the ability to
join files together.
The only other feature I would like to see, is the
ability to adjust the audio quality. In some
situations a person may want to have lower audio
quality in order to get a smaller file size. Or
maybe just the opposite. You may have a movie with
numerous music scores and might want slightly better
audio.
PURCHASING
Spb DVD Mobile can be purchased for $24.95 USD at the Spb website.
PROS
entire DVD movies for use on a WM device
from a DVD
output quality
interface makes it easy and hassle free
CONS
adjust audio output
spanned files/disks
may prove to be a hindrance for some users
Value
Ease
of Use
Features
Overall
OVERALL IMPRESSION
length movies for your mobile device fast and easy.
The wizard style interface will allow novice users
to convert a movie quickly, while satisfying
advanced users alike.
conversion speed will vary from one PC to another, I
think everyone will appreciate the quality and
options available in Spb Mobile DVD. I’ve tried
other applications for converting my video
collection, but Mobile DVD is the first application
that delivered the ease of use and quality results. You can
download a trial version from
Spb’s web site.
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